Value Representations

Overview of the value types Internet Object can represent.

Internet Object supports a rich set of value types, from simple scalars such as numbers and strings to structured values such as objects and arrays. Values are the fundamental building blocks of every document.

All values are designed to be:

• Human-readable — easy to read and write by hand.

• Machine-parseable — efficient to process.

• Type-clear — each value has an unambiguous type.

• Expressive — rich enough to model complex data.

Value categories

Scalar values

Scalar values represent single, atomic data:

• Numbers — integers, floating-point, and special numeric values

• Strings — text in open, regular, and raw forms

• Booleans — true / false values

• Nulls — the absence of a value

• Binary — binary data encoded as Base64

• Date and Time — temporal values with ISO 8601 compatibility

Structured values

Structured values contain other values:

• Objects — key-value pairs representing entities

• Arrays — ordered collections of values

String types

Internet Object provides three string forms for different text scenarios:

Form	Syntax	Description	Typical use
Regular string	"text" or 'text'	Quoted string with escape sequences	General text, user input
Open string	unquoted text	Unquoted string	Simple identifiers, plain words
Raw string	r"text" or r'text'	Literal string, no escape processing	File paths, regex, code

Numeric types

Internet Object supports several numeric forms for different precision and range needs:

Form	Syntax	Description	Range
Number	42, 3.14, 1e10	Standard floating-point number	IEEE 754 double precision
BigInt	42n, 0x1ABn	Arbitrary-precision integer	Unbounded
Decimal	42.5m, 3.14159m	High-precision decimal	Configurable precision
Special values	NaN, Inf, -Inf	Non-finite numeric values	IEEE 754 special values

Temporal types

Internet Object has built-in date and time values:

Form	Syntax	Description	Example
Date	d'2024-03-20'	Date only	d'2024-03-20', d'2024'
Time	t'14:30:45'	Time only	t'14:30:45.123', t'09:00'
DateTime	dt'2024-03-20T14:30:45Z'	Combined date and time	dt'2024-03-20T14:30:45.123Z'

Binary data

For binary data, Internet Object uses a Base64 byte string (b'SGVsbG8='), an efficient way to carry bytes as text.

Value syntax at a glance

# Scalar values
42                                     # Number
"Hello, World!"                        # Regular string
'Single quotes work too'               # Regular string
unquoted string                        # Open string
r"C:\Users\file.txt"                   # Raw string
true                                   # Boolean
false                                  # Boolean
null                                   # Null
b'SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ='                    # Base64 byte string
d'2024-03-20'                          # Date
t'14:30:45'                            # Time
dt'2024-03-20T14:30:45Z'               # DateTime

# Structured values
{ name: "John Doe", age: 30, active: true }   # Object
[1, 2, 3, "four", true]                       # Array

Type handling

Internet Object maintains strict type boundaries:

• No implicit conversion — values keep their declared types.

• Syntax-driven typing — a value's type follows from how it is written.

• Validation — type constraints are enforced during validation, against the schema.

Comments and whitespace

Values can be annotated with comments and laid out with whitespace for readability:

{
  # User information
  name: "John Doe",    # Full name
  age: 30,             # Age in years

  # Contact details
  email: "[email protected]"
}

See Also

• Internet Object Document — the overall document structure

• Schema Data Types — typing and validation

• Best Practices & Guidelines — effective use of the format